help with jointer

[joseph f merz]

this could be a feed problem . I find myself making curves instead of flat boards .Have never had this problem before . Table is dead flat . blades flush to outfeed . I am now not even sure where to keep presure when running boards through .I would love to be able to see a video but I have found nothing .Though I have read on the subject I can find nothing in my library or internet that helps .This is really frustrating .

[Mel Fulks]

Pressure should be on out feed side.Your wood could be distorting as it is being cut. Check some of the old jointer posts .There are a bunch of them. That might be the fastest way, but there is always help here too.

[Stephen Cherry]

When was the last time it worked right, and what has changed since then?

Blades flush to outfeed? How do you know that they are? The height of the outfeed table needs to be EXACTLY right. I used to try to measure this, but now I look at the wood.

[Erik Christensen]

A jointer is one of those tools that does take some technique to get good results - I have had mine for years and still not totally comfortable with it sometimes. As soon as enough stock is past the cutter you shift one then both hands to the outfeed side and keep them there for the rest of the board. Joint one face first till you get a light cut over 100% of the surface - it is now flat (or should be) and run other side through planer. Back to jointer to do one edge with now flat face against the fence - continue till one edge is flat then either rip to width or run other edge through planer. Multiple light passes take more time but for me yield better results.

some boards have so much internal tension that they are hard to get flat & even if they do eventually submit to your skill & persistence... you can come back in a week and they are twisted again. this is hobby that is even more frustrating than golf - if you realize and accept that you will be much happier :)

[Lee Schierer]

It sounds to me like your tables are not parallel. If you raise the in feed table to the same height as the out feed table then place a long good straight edge across both table you shouldn't see any day light under the straight edge at any point along the length of it. A table that is /O\ will produce a curved cut.

As far as technique goes. Start feeding your board in when sufficient length has moved over the out feed table shift your leading hand to the board on that side of the table as you continue to move the board through the cut. As soon as you can move your trailing hand to the out feed table side of the cutter and continue holding the board down to the table while pushing it through the cut.

[David Kumm]

Sounds like table droop to me. Most decent quality aluminum levels are straight enough to check against. Clamp a long level to the outfeed and raise the infeed up to touch. Check with feeler gauges at the end of the infeed table. Dave

[joseph f merz]

every thing was fine up to a few weeks back . i checked both tables and they are perfectly lined up . i fooled with my form some but from reading i thats not it . I am stumped .i played with out feed .I am missing something .Something basic .I will go back and verify all sujestions.

[Jeff Duncan]

Easiest thing to do is check with a couple pieces of fairly long, (say 4' or more), and wide stock placed on edge. Parts that are 4 or 5" wide are not going to move from the little material you remove when jointing, so this will give you an accurate test. Run the two pieces through and put the freshly jointed edges together. If they're curved your tables are not in the same plane, or your outfeed table is set incorrectly....simple as that. As mentioned, once you have a decent amount of wood over the cutter head move your hand to that side to keep the pressure constant on the out feed. Once you find the problem then you can take the next step and address it.

good luck,
JeffD

[Sam Murdoch]

You also have not written that you are trying to joint different species. Is it possible that you are running boards that are just unusually high strung?

Otherwise, assuming that knives are sharp and tables are in good alignment etc. I have learned that - yes pressure on the outfeed is important but just as important is no pressure at all. Just control the board and let it float across the knives with the most control going to the outfeed side. Also when I get into such a series of boards I end for end more than I would normally until I start getting the degree of straight/flat I desire. Concave up, concave down, all kinds of theories but sometimes you just need to read the board and let it find its own straight. This is not scientific - I am talking about a feel and truly, sometimes thats all I've got to go by :rolleyes:, but it works...

[Mike Cutler]

" Table is dead flat . blades flush to outfeed"

This part doesn't sound 100% correct to me. To the best of my knowledge the blades should be a couple of thousandths above the outfeed table at their top of rotation.
I think the "old rule of thumb" was that if you layed a board on edge across the cutter head and both tables, and rotated the cutterhead it would move the board about an 1/8th of inch back toward the infeed table. I know mine is set up this way. Other than that it sounds like a technique issue.

[Mel Fulks]

I agree with Jeff Duncan and have posted on this before. Joint a couple of boards and see if they touch along entire length. TASTE the soup. Knives higher than out feed table usually leaves slightly open ends. Once again I recommend my Jointer Pointer post.

[glenn bradley]

How long is the material? If the board is not fully supported by the infeed table, use a support stand. If the part of the board hanging off the infeed is bowed and hanging below the table height, your travel path will be fouled. Try a board that is fully supported and see if your problem persists. Pressure on the infeed should only be adequate to guide the material forward and keep it in stable contact with the infeed table. Once a few inches of material are past the cutter head, apply pressure and control the board from there, feeding hand over hand after the cutterhead, effectively dragging the material across the cutter. The already jointed material contacting your outfeed is your reference surface.

All that being said, there are as many techniques to jointing as there are woodworkers, it seems. As for not finding a video demonstration, let me Google that for you :):

http://www.youtube.com/results?q=how+to+use+a+jointer&aq=0&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=w1

IF . . . the tables are coplaner and adjusted within reason -AND- the material is fully supported and controlled throughout the travel path, you would have to be Hercules to deviate the material very much. Most jointer problems seem to boil down to these basics: Alignment, Support and Material Control. This one has it basically covered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqqa6W8m6Y8 other than the fact that I rarely pass my hand over the cutterhead. Before or after the head preferred.

[Carl Beckett]

Someone asked, but is the wood stable? I had some elm I did one that curved like crazy whenever cut no matter what the method.